Chapter 5 - WHAT ELAINE HAD BEEN PROMISED
Elaine returned the next morning carrying soup.
Rachel almost did not let her in.
Then she saw that her mother was crying.
“I need to tell you what Brooke said.”
Rachel stepped aside.
Elaine placed the soup on the counter.
“She said you’d agreed to recover at my place for six weeks.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“What else?”
Elaine sat down.
“She said she was going to rent your condo short-term while you were gone.”
Rachel stared at her.
“Short-term rentals aren’t even allowed by this building.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Brooke does.”
Elaine looked ashamed.
“She said there was a corporate tenant.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-two thousand dollars.”
“For six weeks?”
Elaine nodded.
Rachel felt anger rise.
Not because Brooke wanted the money.
Because Elaine had apparently known about it.
“You were okay with that?”
“She told me you were getting half.”
“Half of money from renting my home?”
Elaine rubbed her thumb against the edge of her cardigan.
“She said you needed cash because your medical leave wasn’t fully paid.”
Rachel gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
Her employer provided twelve weeks of paid medical leave.
Brooke knew that.
Rachel had mentioned it at Sunday dinner.
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
Elaine’s answer was quiet.
“Because Brooke said you were embarrassed.”
Rachel stood and looked out toward the Chicago skyline.
Brooke had constructed the plan around one reliable fact.
Elaine hated direct conflict.
If Brooke said Rachel was embarrassed, Elaine would not ask.
If Brooke said Rachel needed help, Elaine would help secretly.
If Brooke said discussing it would upset Rachel, Elaine would keep quiet.
Rachel turned.
“What were you getting?”
Elaine blinked.
“What?”
“Brooke wouldn’t include you unless she needed something. What did she promise you?”
Elaine’s face tightened.
“Nothing.”
Rachel waited.
Her mother looked away.
There it was.
“Mom.”
Elaine whispered, “She said the rental money could cover part of my property-tax bill.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
Elaine’s townhouse association had imposed a special assessment after roof damage.
Nearly nine thousand dollars.
Rachel had offered to help.
Elaine refused because she did not want to “take money from one daughter when the other was struggling.”
Brooke had known.
Rachel looked at her mother.
“So she made you think you were helping me while my condo helped you.”
Elaine began crying harder.
“I thought everybody benefited.”
Rachel sat across from her.
“That’s why it worked.”
Her phone rang.
Samantha.
The attorney had spoken with the condo association.
No lease had been submitted.
May you like
But two weeks earlier, someone had requested the building’s move-in procedures for Rachel’s unit.
The request had come from Brooke’s business email.
